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Principals | Vice-Principals | Teachers | Photos & Coordinates | Sources
Known locally as the Hecla School, provincial education records record its name as Big Island School, probably to avoid confusion with Hecla School elsewhere in Manitoba. Situated on Hecla Island in Lake Winnipeg, the district was established formally in May 1889. It was dissolved in 1967 and the catchment area became part of the Evergreen School Division. The school closed in June 1970. The former two-room schoolhouse still stands at the site which is now part of the Hecla-Grindstone Provincial Park.
Period
Principal
1950-1951
Ernest Lorne Moffat (1899-1982)
1951-1952
Mrs. M. Magnusson
1952-1953
W. H. Kentz
1953-1954
?
1954-1955
Norman J. Jonsson
1955-1956
Ernest Lorne Moffat (1899-1982)
1956-1957
Benjamin Franklin Olson (1898-1981)
1957-1960
Johann E. Paulson
1960-1962
G. Jones
1962-1964
Ernest Lorne Moffat (1899-1982)
Among the other teachers of Hecla Island School were Thorfinnur Thorsteinsson (1885), Johann Solmundsson (1885), Jon Runolfsson (1890), Jona Sigurdson (1910), Lara Eyfjord (1918), Asta Jonasson (1919), Guony Jonasson (1919), Kristin Stefanson (1920), Ljotunn Thorsteinson, Stella Stefanson, Jon Gillis, Ingibjorg Sigurgeirson Jonsson, Lenore Denby, Sadie Armstrong, Mabel Rognvaldson Doll, Guony (Gwen) Solmundson Jonsson, Laura Fraser, Leila Fraser, Lillian Campbell, Frances Campbell, James Taylor, Christine Tomasson Jefferson, Magnusina (Marge) Jones, Louise Stefanson Jones, Hrund Skulason, Skuli Bodvarson, Edythe Whitfield, Mabel Gossen, Mildred Gossen, Freda Thordarson, Frank Rhome, Lawrence Johnson, Jonas Einarson, Bill Williams, Doris (Sudbury) Tomasson, Wilfrid Laurier “Laurie” Tomasson, Gordon Bardarson, Jean Taylor Thordarson, Johann Palson, Irene Eggertson Thorarinson, Jonina Stefanson Benson, William (Bill) Moffet, Thorbergur (Buddy) Jones, Kenneth Halldorson, and Walter Krivda (1950s).
Students at Hecla Island School (no date) by H. D. Cumming
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 92.
The former Hecla Island School building (August 2009)
Source: Rose Kuzina
The former Hecla Island School building (October 2015)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
The former Hecla Island School building (October 2021)
Source: George PennerSite Coordinates (lat/long): N51.13315, W96.66533
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Hecla School No. 355 (RM of Argyle)
School District Formation Files [Big Island School District No. 589], GR1688, E0027, Archives of Manitoba.
Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.
One Hundred Years in the History of the Rural Schools of Manitoba: Their Formation, Reorganization and Dissolution (1871-1971) by Mary B. Perfect, MEd thesis, University of Manitoba, April 1978.
Mikley: The Magnificent Island: Treasure of Memories: Hecla Island, 1876-1976 by Ingibjorg Sigurgeirsson McKillop, 1979.
We thank Nathan Kramer, Rose Kuzina, and George Penner for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 8 June 2024
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